


A World Away

by wordscorrupt



Series: Be Still My Heart [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gen, Kid Peter Parker, M/M, Parent Steve Rogers, Parent Tony Stark, Stony - Freeform, Superfamily, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-23 23:12:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19160938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordscorrupt/pseuds/wordscorrupt
Summary: An incident at the park has Tony reflecting on the kind of father he is and the kind that Peter deserves.





	A World Away

Steve’s busy trying to juggle three ice cream cones in his hands as he strolls back to where he left Tony and Peter on the bench. He’s paying too much attention to the task and not enough to his surroundings, therefore not noticing his frantic husband running up to him until he feels someone slam hard against him, throwing him off balance.

“Wha-?!” Steve cries out as all the cones fall out of his hands. He doesn’t have time to mourn the dessert as Tony grabs onto the front of his shirt and yanks him up until they are face to face. They’re so close, Steve can feel Tony’s heart hammering against his chest. He doesn’t have time to speak before Tony’s distraught voice breaks through.

“I lost Peter. I lost our baby. He was right there and then I turned around for one second and he was gone.” Tony’s voice breaks at the end and tears form in the corner of his eyes.

Steve’s eyes widen and he doesn’t have the time to interrogate his husband as the sudden urge to find his son right now takes over. He practically pushes Tony away as he starts darting through the hoards of people at the park, trying to get a glimpse of a tiny boy with bouncy curls. He can hear Tony from the other side of the park shouting Peter’s name.

It doesn’t take long for the other people at the park to take notice. It’s a sight to behold with Iron Man and Captain America both looking to be on the verge of a massive panic attack.

Peter had run off before. He was three, for goodness sakes. It was practically an innate skill for a child at that age to run off the second they had the chance. But usually, they were able to hunt him down in less than a minute.

This time it felt like hours had gone by with no sight of his son.

A million thoughts ran through his mind. What if someone had taken his baby? His sweet, chubby-faced baby? To use as ransom, to hurt, to kill -

“Oh God,” Steve moaned quietly, falling onto an empty bench as fear overcame him. He tries to take deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down because he was no help to Peter in this kind of state. But each breath felt like a hot knife being stabbed into his back.

“Papa!”

Steve’s head moves up so fast, he practically gives himself whiplash. Peter’s by his side, giving him a toothy grin as he holds up the little duckling in his hands to show Steve.

Steve lets out a gasping breath and in a second flat, he’s tugging Peter against his chest, pressing his face into the boy’s shoulder trying desperately to hold back his sobs.

“Papa, you squishing, Ducky,” Peter whines, protecting his new tiny feathered friend.

Steve loosens his hold but doesn’t let go. He peppers kisses to Peter’s curls, basking in the smell of the strawberry shampoo from his bath this morning.

“Papa,” Peter groans, trying to escape from Steve’s hold, “Wanna show daddy.” He motions to the duckling in his protective hold.

He doesn’t have to wait long as Tony runs up to them, nearly falling to his knees as he sees Peter. Steve is quick to grab the duckling when Peter loses his grip on it when Tony snatches him up into a hug.

Tony stands there for a long time, hugging, kissing and murmuring his love to their little boy. Steve busies himself with gently petting the duckling now situated in his hands. From the corner of his eye, he sees a few feet away what he assumes to be the duckling’s mother, giving him quite the murderous glare.

Steve gulps.

Tony meanwhile has flipped sides and starts scolding Peter.

“Young man,” Tony starts, voice firm as he settles Peter on the bench next to Steve before kneeling down in front of him so they were eye level. He settles his hands on the tiny shoulders, making sure Peter was looking at him. “You never, ever run away from me or Papa. You always stay by our side.”

“But, der was a ducky, daddy,” Peter argued, voice soft yet trembling as he took in disapproval in his dad’s face and tone.

“No buts, Peter. If you wanted to go see the ducks, then you could have asked me or Papa. That was a very, very dangerous thing to do. You scared Papa and me a lot, Peter.”

Peter’s bottom lip wobbles and tears pool up in his eyes. Tony’s heart aches at the sight, but he needs Peter to learn his lesson. He glances up at his husband who gives him an encouraging nod. Steve’s usually the one that takes the lead on discipline, but Tony needs to do this.

“We’re gonna go home now, where you will go straight to time out. Do you understand?”

Peter sniffles, nodding his head as he rubs at one of his eyes with a chubby fist.

Tony sighs, hoping he got through to his son. He gently brushes away the tears on Peter’s cheeks with his thumbs before pulling his son into his arms once more.

“Shh, bubba. Papa and I love you so much. So, so much.”

Peter cries into his shoulder. “ ‘m s’rry, daddy.”

Tony rubs gentle circles on his back, moving to a standing position where he gently bounces his child in his arms. “I know, baby.”

He takes a seat on the bench and Steve quickly leans over to press a kiss to Peter’s cheek.

Later, after one duckling is returned safely back to its mother and one three year old suffered through a five-minute time-out, Tony stands outside Peter’s room as he waits for Steve to wake up their son from his nap in time for dinner. He hears footsteps down the hall and turns to see Rhodey walking towards him.

“I wasn’t too harsh with him today, was I?” Tony whispered as the man stood in front of him. They had all been given the rundown when Peter decided to inform everyone of the horrendous time out he suffered through.

Rhodey chuckled at the innocent question, earning a gentle shove from his friend.

“Come on, Tones. You know the answer.”

Tony bites his lip, crossing his arms in front of him. “It’s just, I can’t help but think of my dad and he was always so angry with me and I lashed out at him today -”

Rhodey cuts him off, knowing where this conversation was going, “You did not lash out at Peter, Tony. You were firm. There’s a difference. You explained what he did wrong and gave him the appropriate punishment. It’s exactly what you should have done.”

Tony sighs, scratching at his chin, still not convinced that his baby doesn’t hate him now.

Rhodey sees the inner turmoil sketched on his best friend’s face and says, “Trust me. You’re worlds away from your dad. That kid loves you more than anything.”

Rhodey leaves him to his thoughts with a pat on the back, telling him he was going to go help set up for dinner.

A few moments later, Peter’s bedroom door opens and Steve walks out with a drowsy toddler in his arms.

“Look, Petey, it’s daddy,” Steve murmurs to the little boy, hoping to rouse him up and Tony wants to stop him, tell him that Peter doesn’t want him right now. However, his words are caught in his throat as Peter’s head perks up and as soon as he sees Tony, he holds his arms out.

Instinctively, Tony grabs a hold of his son, feeling Peter’s tiny arms wrapping around his neck followed by a warm cheek being pressed into the crook of his neck. Steve looks on with a pleasant smile.

“Hey, baby.”

“Hi, ‘addy.”

Tony grins.


End file.
